Cooch Behar, Dec. 22: A high school teacher today lodged a police complaint against P.C. Sorcar Jr, alleging that the magician pushed him off the stage during a show at Rabindra Bhavan here.

Ganesh Mondol, 42, who teaches in Seva Bhavan High School in Cooch Behar, in his complaint with Kotwali police said he was called on the stage by the magician to test his blindfold. When he was checking it, Sorcar pushed him and he fell off the stage.

The show, which was suspended following the audience protest, resumed after the magician apologised. Cooch Behar district police chief D.P. Singh said an investigation is on.

Calcutta: The poll panel has deferred the bypolls in Nandigram (East Midnapore) and Sujapur (Malda) to January 5 because of a shortage of central paramilitary forces. The bypoll in Para (Purulia), however, will be held on schedule on December 27. Elections in Jharkhand were also put off because of the lack of forces.

Malda: A gang of 15-20 dacoits raided a businessmans house in Harishchandrapur around 9pm on Monday night. The gang was armed with sharp weapons and after the looting spree hurled bombs at the house when the businessman Gopal Kedia and his son Shankar tried to catch them. Shankar and three bystanders were injured.

Cooch Behar: Five persons were sentenced to life imprisonment by the fast track court on Monday for killing a youth in 2002. Jagadish Chowdhury, Partha Ghosh, Jitendranath Roy, Anath Sarkar and Bura Chakrabarty had shot at Babun Dey on October 24 that year. The youth succumbed to injuries four days later.

Islampur: The teaching and non-teaching employees of Islampur College on Monday agreed to rejoin their duties after the administration provided a police picket on the campus. The college staff had been staying away from work since December 13 to protest against the ransacking of the college office allegedly by the SFI.